Robert Hughes on Marcel Duchamp and the Large Glass

Dec 122013
 

Here’s a segment from Robert Hughes The Shock of the New (1982) that deals with Marcel Duchamp (using some clips from the BBC interview with Duchamp I posted earlier). Part way through, Hughes does a fascinating analysis of Duchamp’s “The Large Glass” or what he called “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even.”

320px-Duchamp_LargeGlassImage via Wikipedia

Hughes sees the work as a kind of allegory of the psychosexual two-world concept that has haunted the history of Western philosophy. The bride is in the top pane, beautiful and inaccessible (like God, Truth and Quixote’s Dulcinea); the bachelors are in the bottom pane, mechanically grinding out their sperm-like product which, yet, can never reach the bride in the top pane. Bottom pane=existence; top pane=Being. At least, this is what Hughes seems to be saying.

My recent Duchamp obsession derives from discussions between Stephen May and Paul Forte, both of whom contributed essays on art to NC in the last two issues. Duchamp is at the heart of their debate, it seems. And the debate speaks to many currents in art theory and history over the last century or so (it is a century since Duchamp started painting).

Here are the relevant posts collected.

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The BBC Interview with Marcel Duchamp

Dec 102013
 

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DuchampLargeGlass2The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors Even (The Large Glass),
1915-1923; notice the cracked panes in the bottom half.

The Forte-May debates on Numéro Cinq have tipped me over into a fascination with Marcel Duchamp. Whenever people get into a debate, it’s always good to dive beneath the surface and teach yourself something and come to an individual conclusion. Here’s the second interview I’ve put up here in two days. Duchamp is surprisingly personable and amiable, and, as he tells his story, quite reasonable. Watching these interviews  you get a sense of traditions and movements clarified through his history and his relationship with movements. This interview is in English and doesn’t display any images.

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Marcel Duchamp Interview at UBUWEB

Dec 082013
 

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Click to View: Jeu d’échecs avec Marcel Duchamp (1963)

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Much talk of Marcel Duchamp on NC lately. Read Stephen May’s essay “Beauty & the Brothel of Illustration: An Impractical Guide to Making Art” and Paul Forte’s essay in this issue “Visual Thinking and Cognitive Exploration.” I thought it would be helpful to see the man himself, hear his words and follow his life. This is a remarkably sumptuous filmed interview that tracks Duchamp artist through his life and influences (among other things, he rather hilariously recommends getting married).

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